Cross Country Skiing

Cross-country skiing was pretty awesome this morning. Despite the ultra frigid temperatures (10-16 degrees F) while I was there, I really enjoyed myself.

Today I skied with Me, Myself, and I. I had kinda forgotten that I was going until I woke up this morning, so I didn't invite anybody along with me this time. It was lonely.

I put in a full two and a half hours today. I covered all the trails except two of the big climbs/descents. I had fun exploring every part of the Sundance Nordic area. It was beautiful!

Sundance got a lot of new snow since I was up there on Saturday. Actually, on Saturday it was raining, threatening to wash away all the snow, so the Nordic center was closed, and I didn't get to ski. So the new snow is a good thing. I was able to break new trail on much of the ground I covered today.

The trees were thickly covered in snow, and it would fall off in glittery mist every so often. I was lucky to avoid getting dumped on by any of it, except once when I stopped for a minute to take pictures.

As far as stats go, my heart rate monitor/GPS decided to play dead today, so I don't know how fast or far I went. The snow felt grippier than usual today, so I don't think I broke any speed records.

Ladies Night Out at the Bike Shop

On Wednesday, February 4th, Mad Dog Cycles in Orem will be hosting a ladies night for all ladies who ride bikes or want to learn.
You can find out more information by clicking here. Remember, you must RSVP if you want to attend.
I didn't go last year, but I heard from a lot of ladies that it was a super fun time, and almost everyone who went left with some sort of prize. Plus, there will be food. So go, ladies, go!

Team Training

Sure, we look good in our Ski Utah gear, but boy, we can't ski!





Lucky for me, no one had their camera out when I took my turn at falling over. First time this season, I swear!

Max speed = 12.5 mph. I'm getting better at this!

What a Busy, Tiring Day

I'm exhausted. And it's only Monday. Do I get a rest week sometime soon? Maybe I've been taking it too easy on myself and I need to work harder?

I started out the day teaching a Spinning class. Apparently my iPod is tired too because it decided to die just three songs into class. Luckily, one of the other instructors happened to be in the room at the time and let me borrow her iPod. She had some pretty good music. Maybe too good. My heart rate was way higher than it should have been for an endurance workout. Oh well, I guess.

After class, I hurried down to the weight room and changed things up with my usual weight session. Um...ow. I did all the important stuff, skipped one set of other stuff, and hurried out of there.

Ran home and changed clothes then drove to SLC to help a teammate move. I wish I had worn my heart rate monitor because this was another hard workout. I probably climbed her full set of stairs 60 times, usually carrying some heavy box. I spent a couple of hours doing this before I had to leave. But, even though the work was hard, I was glad to be able to go help my teammate. I was worried that she was going to move away and I wouldn't ever see her again. Lucky for me, she's not moving far away just yet.

On the way home, I couldn't resist stopping by my second-most favorite bike shop. I'm still looking for those 38 cm handlebars. They didn't have them either. But they did have a flirty bike shop guy. I almost let him talk me into ordering some $460 bars! Egads! Luckily, I happen to know the guy pretty well, so instead, I told him to find me some more reasonably priced bars and give me a call.

Once home I was finally able to take some time to eat - important to remember to eat. Then it was off to get some internet work hours in. How else can I pay for all my bike stuff if I don't work?

Oh, one more thing. This isn't from today, but while I've been bike shop hopping I happened upon a really cool jersey. It would have been perfect for the 'cross party's NASCAR theme.

Notice how the logos are changed (click image for a bigger view)to reflect a bike theme.
And the back:

I like it! Too bad it costs $83! I've got too much other bike stuff I've gotta spend my money on.

Sigh...

My facebook days are over. At least for a while. I don't know how long I can stand to not have a facebook account. So we'll see...

Anyway, tonight I discovered that some of my high school buddies are adding a name I was hoping not to see again. I don't want this person to find me, so disabled my account. I've only been off for 10 minutes, but I miss facebook already.

So, to all my facebook friends: I still love you! You know where to find me if you need me.

EDIT - Okay, so that was short-lived. I did a little research and remembered that I could block certain people. So, it should be all taken care of now. I'm back!!!

The Elusive 38s

I've been looking for some new handlebars. Mine are too wide. Now is a good time to get some new ones - there's still plenty of time for me to get used to new, narrower bars before race season starts back up. I've checked with several bike shops only to discover that 38 cm handlebars are a rare commodity. I thought I had found a shop that had them, but alas, they were the wrong diameter. So, the search continues.

Anyhoo, it was a beautiful day for cross-country skiing. I climbed Jerry's Lunch today. I know, it sounds funny. I have no idea why they named it that, but it is a monster climb. I was sure I was going to fall backward down the mountain at any moment. But I made it to the top. Here is a picture that I was hoping would show how steep it was. Turns out the picture looks totally flat. But trust me, it's steep.

After the Jerry's Lunch climb I crossed Middle Earth which really seems like you're at the top of the world. Sundance is such a pretty place!

My goal of the day, beside getting great workout, was to go faster then 7.5 mph. I managed to let myself relax enough to pick my max speed up to 8.5 mph. Yay! I love it when I make my goals!

Observation

On my bike I can climb fairly steep grade roads at about 7.5 mph and it feels really, really slow.

On skis, if I can convince myself to relax and let go a bit, I can get going about 7.5 mph and it feels screaming (because that's what I'm doing) fast!

Weird.

Racing Thoughts

I'm feeling better. I've heard from a couple of people now that a detox can make you feel sore. So I guess I'll chalk up how I felt to the diet. Today is my last day on it, and I can hardly wait until tomorrow to have a piece of chocolate!

I was looking at the flyer for the Southern Nevada Stage Race yesterday (click here for to see the flyer), and I was impressed with what I saw. I really would like to see more races here in Utah ran the way they are running theirs. For one thing, they give the Cat 3 women the option of racing with the Cat 4s or with the Cat 1s and 2s. Nothing scares me (or most others from what I hear) away from upgrading to Cat 3 more than the prospect of having to race against women who are much stronger and faster than you are. If I had the option to race either way, I would be way more motivated and excited to upgrade.

The other thing I noticed about this race was that they are paying out to the women's Cat 3-4 group. $400. Unheard of here in Utah.

Can you tell that I'm thinking of doing this race? The only issues for me are 1) travel - I would have to drive to Las Vegas, 2) the expense of gas and motel, and 3) the race is at the end of FEBRUARY. Can I be ready in six weeks?

Why Do I Feel Like This?

I feel like I've been run over by a truck. I'm not sick. But my whole body is sore. Sore like I've worked really, really hard. But, I haven't.

Aside from some snowshoeing and snowshoveling, I haven't done anything out of the ordinary. So I can't understand why my shoulders, triceps, back, quads, hamstrings, and adductors are so stiff and sore. Easy stuff that doesn't usually bother me in Spinning class felt extra hard this morning. Not good to wuss out on the easy stuff when you're the instructor.

Could it be this new detox diet that I've been doing the last couple of days? Or a new prescription? Or is it just from all the extra stress of trying to navigate through all this snow? Who knows. I just hope it goes away soon.

Life is a Party

The last few days have been quite a party! Well, except the parts (yes, plural) where I got stuck in the snow because my car is a gutless piece of poo. But that would be an angry post, so I'll move on.

Saturday I hurried home from my sunny trip to Yuma, Arizona. I was really excited to go to the 'cross party. It was pretty fun. Especially seeing everybody dressed up in their redneck/trailer-trash/NASCAR garb. I really liked seeing some of the guys in their mullet wigs. It was a hoot!
Here I am in my huge Jeff Gordon shirt:


I'm not sure I could have gotten more makeup on my eyes:


Shanna and I living it up:


Nancy and Shanna:


Nancy ended up winning the drawing for the 'cross bike. Even though I was jealous, I don't think it could have gone to a nicer person. Yay, Nancy! Maybe I can talk her into selling it to me. If I'm going to upgrade next season, I'll need to have a bike of my own to race. I've been borrowing Shanna's bike. But if we're racing the same race, one bike's not going to work anymore. Although, we did joke around about trading off the bike every lap during the race.


And here I am with my award: a cowbell and purple shoes.


Sunday was a pretty calm rest day.

Monday I got stuck in the snow and didn't get much of anything done.

This morning I went snowshoeing up Provo Canyon with my friend, Lifesgreat (aka Hilslug).


It was so pretty up the canyon! Can you see the duck in the river?

Then tonight (after I got stuck in the snow some more), I got to go eat fabulous food at the Sundance party. My favorite dish was halibut with a corn tortilla crust and mandarin oranges. The Sundance chefs always put an interesting spin on the food, and it is a good thing. Yum!

There was a dance contest, and some of the people were a little crazy. I couldn't help but snap a photo of the guy who did a strip tease dance.

Good times, good times!

I wonder where I'll get stuck in the snow tomorrow...

Not in the Mood

I just don't have it in me to blog. Sorry if you were waiting on a trip report. Maybe I'm just down because my body believed it was spring for a whole week - and then I returned to Frigidland. Believe me, I felt a lot better in the warm weather.

Maybe you could help inspire a new, real blog entry by actually leaving a comment. I haven't had any comments in several posts, and I'm beginning to wonder if anybody reads this blog anymore.

I'm Coming Home!

It's been a great week of riding! I'll do a full trip report when I get home and have access to my own computer and camera pictures.

For those of you who don't have access to my facebook profile, here are some pictures I took with my camera phone.

On the trip down I stopped at the Grand Canyon:

Riding in Yuma. So sunny!

Did a little bit of sightseeing:

On the way home I stopped in Lake Havasu and stretched my legs walking across the London Bridge.

I made it to St. George after a full day of driving, stayed the night at my brother's house, and met up with some friends to ride in St. George. Here I am at the Tuacahn Amphitheatre.


Hope to see all of you at the 'cross party tomorrow night!